The End
"Well, it's now official, William. The judge signed the divorce decree an hour ago and you are forever free of that cheating bitch," my lawyer Matthew said over the phone.
I had been expecting the call and although the outcome was a forgone conclusion, the finality of the situation unsettled me for a reason I couldn't clearly identify. My thoughts were headed down the all-too-familiar path of how my life had reached this point, but Matthew's voice brought me back to the moment. I mentally chastised myself for once again letting this divorce distract me from what was right in front of me.
As I refocused, I heard him saying, "...and I'd like to invite you to dinner to celebrate this being over. There is something else I want to talk to you about as well, but after dinner and a couple of drinks, not right now. I will say very few people know about this and I promise it will be worth your time."
"I wanted to tell you about this opportunity after I got to know you and your particular situation while working on your case, but ethically I wanted to avoid any conflict of interest, and before you make a joke, yes most lawyers do have ethics," he said.
He suggested a restaurant that recently opened downtown near his office neither of us had been to, but had been highly recommended to him by another client. He said he would make a reservation and we agreed to meet there at 7pm and ended the call.
As I hung up the phone, my thoughts again turned back to the finality of the divorce. After 23 years of marriage and the kids having moved out to start their own lives, my wife Tiffany decided that being married to me was boring and she "didn't want to waste what's left of my life."
She had been happy enough with the size of my income as an investment banker and what she could use it for, but I began to suspect that she did not feel my dick and sexual skills were as sizable anymore and had gone searching elsewhere.
This of course was not the story her lawyer presented in the divorce proceedings. As my suspicions grew, I had consulted with Matthew and at his suggestion, I had hired a private detective to get to the truth that she had in fact been sleeping with someone else.
Once Matthew had presented this proof to her lawyer, they retrenched and we ultimately reached a settlement that was much less than she had wanted, but not a bad deal for her considering the evidence.
Anyway, I sighed, as of an hour ago that part of my life was now over and I was ready to move on, but I was worried because I had been out of circulation so to speak and admittedly felt a little lost as to how to get back in the relationship game. That was one of the paradoxes of marriage: you had a stable relationship with someone who wanted to be with you, but that also diminished your skills in pursuing other intimate relationships.
Unless of course you decided to regain those skills while still in the safety of a stable relationship, like my bitch of a wife...no, I told myself, EX wife...as my anger surged to the surface for what felt like the millionth time over the past several months. I was 45 years old, I kept myself in decent shape, and was not bad looking if the occasional flirting glances I received from some of the women in the office was any indication.
As this was running through my head, one of the most frequent flirts, Heather, just happened to pass in front of my open office door and paused.
"Oh these damn heels are going to be the death of me one day," she intoned in mock outrage.
Leaning against the door frame, she slowly bent over to massage her foot, providing an unobstructed view down her blouse to the cleavage she had clearly wanted me to see as I sat at my desk. Catching my eyes as they returned to her face, she smiled at her success.
"Be glad you get to wear sensible shoes, William. If it were up to me, there are a lot of clothes I would happily take off so I could be more comfortable. Honestly, I think naked would be much simpler, don't you?" she asked.
My phone rang again at that moment and saved me from having to find an answer that I could give in the workplace without getting in trouble from Human Resources. As I reached for the phone and I watched Heather walk away I thought that what I would like to say to her is, "Hell yes I'd like to see you wearing a lot less," but I couldn't see myself actually saying that anyway, after all I was a married man.
That's when the realization hit me for the first time: I wasn't married anymore! I didn't have to automatically brush off Heather's flirtatious behavior as forbidden fruit. I could ask her out for drinks after work or even a real date if I wanted. One step at a time I told myself and focused on the phone call.
I left work an hour later and headed to the penthouse condo I bought several months ago when I filed for divorce and moved out. I allowed Tiffany to stay in the house and ultimately that was the only significant thing she got from the divorce. She had wanted alimony and a portion of my stock portfolio as well, but after being presented with the evidence of her affair, Tiffany grudgingly took her lawyer's advice and settled for just the house. I was glad to be rid of it anyway because it held too many bittersweet memories and I knew I needed to move on.
As I rode the elevator up to my floor from the underground parking garage, my thoughts were so focused that I barely noticed the woman and her boyfriend who rode up with me that got off a couple of floors below mine. I dropped my briefcase by the door for tomorrow and took off my suit jacket to keep it neat for dinner later.
Tiffany had never been here, but for some reason the place felt emptier tonight. Despite my attempts to put all this behind me over the past few months and go forward, the finality of the divorce made that difficult at this moment and I decided to have a drink and let the memories wash over me. It seemed appropriate at the ending of something, didn't it? Sort things out so you could put them away and move on, that's the ticket I thought as I sipped my bourbon.
I thought about the first time I saw Tiffany. I was an accounting major in college and working part time at a local bank trying to improve my resume for job hunting after graduation next year. She was working at campus bookstore where she helped me find a textbook. She was very personable and she smiled a lot as we looked for the book and it was her smile that did me in. I'm not one to be very bold, so I surprised myself by asking her on a date for Friday night. Tiffany blushed and gave me that delightful smile again and said yes.
Over dinner, I learned that she was an education major at the university and wanted to be a school teacher like her mother. We covered a lot of topics and I learned that she also enjoyed being outdoors and driving through scenic landscapes, which gave a perfect opportunity.
"I know a lake up the mountain that you would probably enjoy. Would you like to take a drive up with me Sunday morning?" I asked.
"I'd like that very much," she said.
Tiffany told me years later that even though we had just met, she felt a connection between us, was sure I was the one for her, and was motivated to make that a reality. Funny how things turn I thought as I took another drink. After we finished eating, I drove her back to her apartment and spent the next day struggling to keep her out of my thoughts long enough to study for an important exam next week.
Sunday morning finally arrived and I eagerly drove back to her apartment. Tiffany was watching for me from the front window and came out immediately. I was pretty sure I saw her wink back at her roommate still standing in the window as she turned toward my car.
"You look beautiful," I said as she seemed to skip toward the curb and my waiting car.
